


Our Time Is Running Out

by Vertencar



Series: Listen to the Sound of a New Tomorrow [8]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Family, Fix-It, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-07 09:49:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11056455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vertencar/pseuds/Vertencar
Summary: Craig Owens is the Doctor's friend, that's undeniable. And friends help each other. So, when it's time for the Doctor to die, Craig Owens decides to help his friend.On this day, Craig Owens learns that giving hope can alter the whole future. Because, today is not the day the Doctor dies.





	1. I Faced It All and I Stood Tall

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer : Some lines of the episodes Closing Time, The Wedding of River Song and The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe have been used in this fic. They DO NOT belong to me but belong to the BBC who owns the rights of Doctor Who.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story title by Muse's 'Time Is Running Out' and chapter title by Frank Sinatra's 'My Way'.

 

Craig entered his house, a sigh of relief on his lips and baby Alfie in his papoose. The house was very quiet, but then he assumed it was because he was alone. The Doctor had left, rushed off more likely. Craig should have known it would’ve happened, it was the Doctor after all. Never staying. Always in a rush.

Making his way to the living room, a surprised sigh left his mouth. "Who’s tidied all this up?" Left agape, he looked around him. Every piece of furniture was in its right place. The magazines were pilled up neatly on the coffee table. Not a single thing was laying around.

A soft chuckle escaped him. When he left this morning, the house was looking like a dumping ground but now everything was neat, clean, even shiny. The only name that came to his mind at this instant was Doctor. That man, he was absolutely fantastic. In addition to having saved the planet from an attack of Cyberman, the Doctor had tidied up his house. Craig didn’t know how, in so little of time, but he didn’t care. For him it was magic.

Surely if the Doctor had had the time to tidy all of this he would still be there. He wouldn’t leave him without saying goodbye, would he? 

Still holding Alfie in his papoose, Craig made his way to the kitchen. This side of the house looked equally clean and neat. The sound of the backdoor opening made him look up. And there he was, the Doctor.

"See, I do come back." He spoke up, extending his hands in the air to make his point. 

Craig was left dumbstruck, "How did you—"

"Time machine," The Doctor said casually. "But even with time travel, getting glaziers on a Sunday…" He passed his fingers over the fridge, examining the dust that usually was there but not today, today it was clean. "Tricky…"

"You went back in time? That means you used up your hours. What about Exedor?" Craig felt a bit honoured that the Doctor used a bit of his own time to help his friend. He sure did avoid hours of cleaning up before Sophie arrived.

"What about you being in trouble with Sophie when she comes back? I couldn’t let that happen." The Doctor replied on the same tone. Craig realised the Doctor was putting up his friend’s benefit before his own, missing the Exedor thing for him.

Not trusting his voice, Craig said out loud what he was thinking, "You used up your time for me."

"Of course I did. You’re my mate." He dropped his eyes to Alfie, currently babbling contently against his father’s chest. "I noticed Stormageddon’s very quiet and happy." Listening to his babbling, the Doctor’s eyebrows rose up. "Oh, he prefers the name Alfie now." Craig glanced down at his son and smiled at him. The Doctor smiled too and listened to what Alfie was saying. "And he’s very proud of his dad."

Surprised, Craig glanced up at the Doctor. "He calls me dad?"

"Yes, of course he does now!" He replied as if it was an universal fact. Bending down a bit to be at Alfie’s eye level, the Doctor continued to talk to him. "Yeah, I know, he’s a bit thick, isn’t he?" 

Craig chuckled and slapped the Doctor on the shoulder playfully. "Oi, shut up, you two!"

The Doctor grinned and tickled Alfie’s head. Then, a shadow passed over his eyes and he was back to his normal self. He was back into the body of the Doctor, the saver of worlds. "Well…" He looked back at Craig and gulped, setting his jaw tight. "Now it’s time. I have to go." He said at last, trying to smile.

Craig pressed his lips together, he knew there was something torturing the Doctor’s mind at this instant. He saw that the Doctor was trying to conceal something under his happy self but Craig could still see it. He knew him, they had been roommate in the past for bloody sake! 

If there was one thing that the Doctor had made him understand, it was that they were friends and friends helped each other. The Doctor had helped him mere moment ago by tidying up his house. He owed him.

"Doctor, I know that something’s wrong. I can help you." He offered but the Doctor stayed shut off. Not showing a ounce of the guy that laughed with him a minute ago.

"Nobody can help me." He uttered and Craig clenched his jaw. Then, the Doctor directed his attention to some postcards. There it was, the moment was gone. Avoided. That’s what he did, the Doctor, he avoided things when they were getting too personal. "I hope Sophie won’t mind." He spoke up, waving blue postcards at him. "I need these."

But not this time, Craig wasn’t going to let the Doctor get away that easily this time. He was his friend and he was here to help. "Yes, she will." The smile on the Doctor’s face fell. But nonetheless, he slid them into the pocket of his jacket. 

Sighing, the Doctor glanced up at Craig. The latter said nothing but placed his arms around Alfie’s body, rocking him gently. The silence was broken at moments by the babbles of Alfie but the room was plunged into a deep and tense quietness. 

The Doctor cleared his throat, "Well, I—"

"I heard you the other night." Craig cut him. He lifted his eyes to the Doctor’s and met furrowed brows. The Doctor opened his mouth and then closed it, a frown on his face. "Last night, you talked to me but I fell asleep before I could hear the end. I already suspected that something was up but now I’m even surer."

The Doctor set his jaw tight, "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

"Cut the crap, Doctor." He replied, mindful of swearing in front of his child. "Before I fell asleep I heard you saying 'my time is running out'. There, I knew something was definitely wrong but I kind of forgot about it and placed it in the back of my head." The Doctor said nothing, simply watching him as he spoke. Craig shook his head and continued, "And I heard you when we were with the Cybermen. I heard you distinctly, you said you were going to die. What does it mean, Doctor?"

The Doctor opened his mouth but no sound came out. He stayed like that for quite a moment, thinking about what he should say and not say. In the end, he looked more like a fish than a man thinking. 

Craig sighed and Alfie babbled against his chest. "Doctor," The Doctor closed his mouth and looked up at him. "You’re my mate, my friend, and friends talk to each other. If this is going to be the last time I even speak to you I want to know what’s happening. I want an explanation."

"Yes, I understand, Craig." The Doctor nodded.

Shaking his head, Craig continued, "You know, it’s been almost four years since I last saw you. But it’s alright, lot of stuffs happened in my life." Both men glanced down at Alfie. "But do you know what it is to never know what is happening to your friend? You could have gone out without telling me that you were going to your _death_ and I wouldn’t have known. I would have still thought 'eh, it’s been a long time since I have last seen the Doctor, I wonder what he’s up to' but no you would be dead. And I would’ve never been aware of it."

The Doctor thought for a moment before meeting Craig’s eyes. "You’re right. I owe you an explanation."

Craig was left agape, he didn’t really thought the Doctor would agree. Not this quick, that’s for sure. He underestimated his capacities to convince people with words. "Right…" He looked around him, feeling like he didn’t really know what to do. "Hum, come with me in the living room, we’ll chat." After a moment of silence between them, Craig pointed to the living room and walked in its direction. The Doctor followed close behind him.

They sat on the couch and Craig removed Alfie from his papoose, taking him in his arms. 

The Doctor wetted his lips and swallowed the lump in his throat. "Craig, I’m going to die. Soon. Very soon."

Craig nodded, "So, I gathered. But how do you know?" He couldn’t help asking. This whole thing didn’t make any kind of sense to him. This was all very blurry to him, this notion of travels in time and the knowledge of your own death. "This is your future and you can’t know what’s going to happen in your future. Isn’t there some sort of mystery?"

The Doctor smiled to himself and glanced at his friend. "Time travel," He simply said before explaining, "Somewhere in the universe it has already happened, is happening. When you travel in time, time is no longer the boss of you. You control time and everything is happening at once or not at all. Through time, every stage of your life is happening at once. Somewhere there is a baby Craig, a teenager Craig, Craig saving the world from a two storey house, a father Craig. Time is nothing to me, so I know I’m going to die. Simply because I peeked a little too far into my time-stream."

Sighing, the Doctor looked away from Craig’s gaze. His eyes fell on the clock in the mantelpiece, the time was in constant movement, always moving forwards no matter what. Craig followed his gaze and he wondered what the Doctor was actually seeing in those hours. Time itself? The passage of time? 

"The 22nd of April." The Doctor spoke up and Craig glanced down at his face. "It’s tomorrow, isn’t it?" At his nod, the Doctor sighed. "Then tomorrow is the day I die. And I can’t do anything about it. That’s how time goes." His eyes still fixed on the clock, he whispered to himself, "The clock is ticking…"

Groaning, the Doctor passed a hand over his face. Craig watched him in silence, the gears turning inside his head. "Then, don’t go. If you know that it’s going to be tomorrow why are you heading to it? Like if it wasn’t totally obvious, like you didn’t know. Surely, you can do that with your time machine, surely you can avoid going right to your death."

The Doctor smiled, a small laugh escaping him. "It’s not that simple, Craig. It has already happened, I can’t change something that has already happened. It would create big paradoxes and maybe even the destruction of the world." He waved his hands in the air, trying to prove his point. Craig looked at him, slowly understanding how time travel worked. "My death is a fixed point in time, nobody can change it. It’s like the meteor eradicating the dinosaurs or the French Revolution or the assassination of JFK. You can rotate around it but you can in _no way_ change it."

Craig dropped his eyes to his son, passing a hand over his back. The Doctor fell silent beside him. He saw him drop his eyes to the floor, the weight of it all hunching his shoulder with an unbearable heaviness. He understood what the Doctor was going through, not that he’s ever been in this position before -thanks god- but he understood how this would weight on his heart. Nobody should know when it’s their time to die. That was just pure cruelty.

Suddenly Craig gasped and the Doctor looked up at him. "So, that’s what you’re doing." He began and the Doctor frowned. "You’re saying goodbye, you came here to say goodbye. Because you knew you’ll never come back."

The Doctor looked ahead of him, "Yes, I’m saying goodbye."

Craig gulped while nodding. "And, the girl you were traveling with, Amy is it?" Still looking in front of him, the Doctor nodded. Craig pressed his lips together. "Does she know?"

Once again, the Doctor nodded. "Yes, she does. I think she knew even before I did. I suspect it." He turned to his friends and continued. "She and her husband, Rory, they’re my best friends. I let them go away, I said goodbye to them. I let them down, but I had to…"

Craig saw something pass over the Doctor’s eyes, he knew there was more to the story but didn’t ask for more. If the Doctor wanted to tell him he would, in his own time.

The Doctor glanced back to the clock in front of him. "I think they even know who’s the murderer." He took a deep breath and passed his hand over his face. "Murderer… I hate this word." He murmured behind his hand. "It’s not _her_ fault…"

Craig’s ears peeked up at this. "Who’s _her_?" he simply asked.

Slowly removing his hand from his face, the Doctor cast a glance at Craig. The latter was looking at him expectantly. He knew there was more to this story than the Doctor had let him know. He might not have been the best at interpreting people’s face but this _her_ certainly brought something interesting on the Doctor’s face.

The Doctor frowned, not knowing how much to say about _her_. "She’s, hum, she’s the daughter of Amy and Rory, my best friends. She’s the daughter of my best friends, yeah…"

Craig pondered the thought for a moment. "Wait, that doesn’t make sense." At this, the Doctor smiled. He was accustomed to this sort of remarks. "Amy must be like in her twenties. If she has had a child, the little one would be a baby or even a toddler, not more. How can a child be your murdered?"

"Simply because she’s not a child." At Craig’s frown, the Doctor continued. "I’m not going to explain everything to you but long story short, because of timey wimey time travel she’s now a grow up."

At this, Craig’s frown seemed to deepen even more. That didn’t made any more sense, but he let it go. That was another thing connected to the Doctor that he would never be able to explain. But in the end, he thought he finally began to understand. "What’s her name?"

The Doctor hesitated for a moment, Craig saw his lips twitch in a smile but said nothing of it. Finally, the Doctor spoke up, "Her name’s River Song."

Strange name, Craig thought. "This girl seems like trouble."

"Woman, and yes she does." The Doctor directed his eyes away, nonetheless the grin plastered on his face could not be hidden. Even if Craig didn’t fully understand the notion of time travel and space and all the thing connected to the Doctor, he knew one thing. This was common sense to all, a victim doesn’t blush at the notion of his murderer. Unless… Of course…

"Who is she?" He simply asked.

The Doctor turned back to him, his brows furrowed. "I just told you who she was! She’s the daughter of my best friends, Amy and Rory."

Craig shook his head. "I mean, who is she _to you_?"

The Doctor fell silent. Touché, Craig thought. He was rendered speechless, wondering if telling the truth was an important information. But what was the use of lying, Craig already suspected there was something that he avoided. Better simply tell the truth as it was, for once the Doctor thought that telling the truth wasn’t that difficult. He was in front of his friend and that’s what friends did, they told the truth to each other.

"She…" The Doctor began, not really knowing how to continue this sentence. He obviously knew who River was to him, but that still seemed quite personal to say. He picked at a thread on his shirt, his eyes directed to the floor. "She’s," He cleared his throat and set his eyes in front of him, not daring to meet Craig’s eyes. "She is to me what Sophie is to you." Craig saw a blush creeping on the Doctor’s face. Here he was, the Doctor, saver of worlds, admitting something deeply personal.

Craig fell silent. Alfie babbled at his side and the Doctor still wouldn’t meet his eyes. But at least, Craig understood. He understood what the Doctor had meant by that. Thinking of the Doctor as the saver of worlds, the healer, the wise man, people often forgot that the Doctor was, underneath this thick shell, still a man. A man with feelings, those were well hidden but they were still there. 

Craig understood that the Doctor was his friend, he was one of the few that saw a more profound side of the Doctor. But he still knew he was a phase in the Doctor’s life, he only saw the Doctor from an extern point of view. He saw things in the Doctor that only the Doctor allowed him to see. 

Breaking out of his thoughts, Craig observed his friend. The latter had his eyes fixed on his knees and his hands wrung together. Craig thought about this woman, the woman in charge of the Doctor’s hearts. He had understood very well what he Doctor meant by 'she is to me what Sophie is to you' but there was still something buggering you.

"But," He began and the Doctor looked up at him. Craig frowned, "There’s a thing I don’t understand. You just told me that it was the woman you loved but she wants to kill you. Are you sure she shares the same feelings as you because, for my part, Sophie doesn’t want to kill me. Most of the time."

A smile twitched at the Doctor’s lips. He shook his head, "That’s the thing, she doesn’t really want to kill me. It’s, well, it’s complicated…" He said at last and shook his head, as if it wasn’t the most important part. 

Craig looked at him in disbelief, that was a thing he couldn’t understand. "Doctor, there is a thing I don’t understand and it’s your behaviour." The Doctor met his eyes with a frown. "How are you not sad that your going to die, or at least frightened, terrified, horrified? The normal behaviour to have when you know about your own death." The Doctor opened his mouth to speak but Craig stopped him with a hand. "And, how are you not worried about your… _River_ killing you?"

Sighing, the Doctor turned himself to be face to face with Craig. "Listen, something happened a long time ago, my friends Amy and Rory, they witnessed my death. They knew from the beginning that I was going to die but didn’t say word. In the end, I gathered what was going to happen. What was going to happen _to me_. And this was more than _four years ago_ to me and them. I’ve had the time to think about it and mourn my own death. It doesn’t scare me anymore."

"And her? Isn't she afraid to kill you?" Craig uttered. 

The Doctor sighed and closed his eyes for a second. "From the moment she was born, her life has been revolving around the fact that she had to kill me. It was her duty as a soldier. Since her birth, she was enrolled into a… a sect and she was forced to kill me. So, of course, when I knew I was going to be killed it was by her hand, willing or not." He frowned before resuming, "Since the moment she met me I knew what was going to happen. During all those years I knew what the outcome would be. So, I gave her a chance in life, a normal life." 

"Doesn’t she know she’s going to kill you?" 

The Doctor shook his head, "She doesn’t know. How could she? I didn’t want to burden her with the knowledge of my death. I already knew and I know how that sets in a heart." He fell silent for a moment, deep in thoughts. Clearing his throat, he spoke up, "Of course, I’m worried for her. I have been since the moment she met me. But that’s why I gave her a normal life. A little bit of normality before the storm. What I didn’t think of including in my plan is that I would fall in love, and that she would fall in love too." He stopped to chuckle and looked up at Craig, "Strange thing, isn’t it? Human feelings…"

Craig smiled. The Doctor did too. Yes, human feelings were unpredictable. But that’s what made the humans so… _humans_. 

"If I could change the outcome I would, but I can’t change fate." The Doctor whispered to himself.

"Bullshit!" The Doctor startled at the sudden shout of Craig. He looked at him, a puzzled look on his face. "You can change fate with love. That’s what I did." He said, holding Alfie tighter in his arms. "If Craig Owens can change fate, so can the Doctor."

The Doctor shook his head, "It’s not that simp—"

"What would she do?" Craig cut him. "What would River Song do if she knew you were going to die?"

The Doctor thought for a moment and sighed, glancing at Craig. "She would change the future, she’ll try to avoid it. Even if it cost deeply to the universe, she would still try…"

Craig smiled at the Doctor, "You were right, Doctor." He glanced down at Alfie in his hands, the latter has began to drop off in his arms. "Love is stronger than fate, love will always be the strongest force of the humans."

The Doctor thought about it for a moment, his hands over his face. Then, suddenly he stood up, startling both Craig and Alfie. "I need to save her." He murmured and cast a glance at Craig. 

The latter saw hope in his eyes, something that he hasn’t seen for quite some time. The Doctor looked around him, a smile beginning to grace his lips. Craig smiled too, the only thing the Doctor had needed was a speech. It was usually his job to make big speech but sometimes that’s what friends were for. Bringing new hope.

The Doctor was back in the game.

 


	2. In a Room Full of Silhouettes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from 'Friction' by Echos

The TARDIS rumbled under the Doctor’s feet as it moved through the time vortex at an alarming speed. Forced to hang onto the railing to stay upright, the Doctor urged his time machine to go even faster. He couldn’t lose any minute, any second. Time was precious.

The thumping of his hearts revealed his anxiousness. What if he didn’t arrive on time? What if it was already too late? He couldn’t let that happen. All he needed was time, and time was not the boss of him. He controlled time, he was a Time Lord.

The TARDIS abruptly came to a stop and the Doctor was propelled against the railing all of a sudden. The air was knocked out of his lungs and left him in a dizzy state. After a few seconds, he looked up from his position and realised the TARDIS has arrived. He was at Luna.

He pushed himself away from the railing and looked at the readings on his screen. The date was the right one, 22nd of April. For once, the TARDIS had lead him where he wanted and needed to go. Thanking his ship, he made his way to the doors and opened them in one swift motion.

In front of him, Luna gleamed with life. His ship has appeared in a corridor and the students walking there didn’t seem surprised by the sudden appearance of it. But then, students at Luna were no longer surprised by strange things happening there. 

The Doctor looked around him, he recognised the area. This was the far left wing of the main building, where the dorms were placed. Of course, the TARDIS would lead him to the usually place he landed.

The corridor was loud with the hustle and bustle of the students. If River was somewhere in there it would be somewhere quiet.

Closing the door behind him, the Doctor scanned the area for a sign of River. It was the easiest way to find her, time was not to be wasted. His screwdriver beeped and he looked down at the readings. With a frown forming on his face, he whispered to himself. "The library. Luna’s library."

The library was the most secluded area of Luna. It was at the other end of the school and had barely any visitors nowadays, with the books being transferred to tablets. It was the perfect place for the perfect kidnapping.

Raising his head from his screwdriver, the Doctor’s eyes grew wide. He didn’t have much time now, he had to do the only thing he knew would save her.

Run.

The Doctor set off in a race against time. He ran through long corridors, pushing students out of his way. He didn’t care about his surroundings anymore, the only thing he cared about was the safety of River. It was like a beacon at the end of the corridor, calling him, begging him to run faster and faster and faster. He would not rest until he knew River was safe.

Finally, he caught sight of the library’s door and rushed to it. Arriving in front of it, the Doctor was out of breath and had to regain his energy by taking long intakes of breath. Once his breathing regained, the Doctor placed his palms on the door.

The door was impressive, really. With its intricate moulding set to represent Luna’s coat of arms, the mahogany door was at least ten foot tall. The Doctor understood why every student of Luna was afraid to come in here. This place emanated knowledge and power.

The Doctor couldn’t hear anything from the other side of the room. Coming closer, he placed his ear to the door and listened closely. 

Suddenly, he heard a scream from the other side. A scream that sounded very much like River’s. Pushing away from the door, the Doctor fished his screwdriver out of his pocket. Pointing his sonic to the door, he switched it on. The buzzing noise echoed through the corridor but nothing happened.

Realisation dawning upon him, the Doctor shook his head vehemently. "No, no!" He tried again, in vain. The door was made of wood, of course. Even with the best of screwdrivers he wouldn't be able to make an inch of this door move.

Dropping the screwdriver, he began to pound with his hand against the door. Maybe if the people behind the door heard him they would open it. Oh hell, who was he kidding? Of course, they would not. They were bloody Silences!

He would need to do this the old way. To save River.

As a last chance, the Doctor began to pound against the door with his shoulder. The first blow hurt like hell but he kept on going. If the people in the other side hadn’t known he was trying to break in, now they knew. 

The door wouldn't budge and his shoulder would definitely be bruised by now, there was no use in continuing this madness. _How do people even break in?_ He thought to himself. Then he remembered how he had already broken in a library. The Library… _No, better not think of this_. With the help of his companion Donna, it had seemed to work pretty well.

Pushing away from the door, the Doctor exhaled a breath. _Here goes nothing_. With all his might, he kicked the door in its weakest point and he heard it straining to stay closed. He continued to kick the door and after a moment the door finally opened with a crash.

His leg was throbbing with pain but he didn’t care. He entered the library and, as the light of the window illuminated his figure, every person in this room turned to him. He was being scrutinised by Silences and humans working for Kovarian. He didn’t care, his eyes were searching for someone in particular. 

Then, he found her. 

River. 

She was in her suit and she wasn’t even awake. Her head was bobbing against the helmet. Four men were holding out her weight as she couldn’t do it herself. They had sedated her, she was unconscious. The Doctor set his jaw tight. _Be strong, don’t let them see your rage_. His inside was melting with fear and eeriness but outside he had to maintain his facade. 

"Let her go." He simply uttered to the four men. They didn’t budge nor made any sign letting him know they had heard his command. Breathing through his nostrils, he repeated himself. This time on a more menacing tone. "Let. Her. Go."

"I’m sorry, Doctor." He swiftly turned in the direction of the voice. Kovarian came out of the darkness with a wicked smile adorning her face. "But we can’t to that." She finished, her smile growing wider by the minute.

With a wave of her hand, she made the Silences stop snarling and turned to the four men. She muttered something incomprehensible to the Doctor’s ears. Not knowing what to do, he turned to the men, facing River. As long as he had an eye on her nothing would happen. Wouldn’t it? 

Suddenly, the Silences teleported away in an electric buzz, leaving static electricity behind them. The Doctor’s eyes grew wide and he didn’t have the time to think before the four men teleported away too, taking River with them.

She was gone.

They were alone now. Him and his real murderer.

His back to Kovarian, the Doctor closed his eyes shut tightly. _Be strong, don’t let her see your pain_. Sighing deeply, he slowly turned around. His face was back to his normal expression, not showing an ounce of what he was feeling inside. His jaw was set tight, ready for confrontation. 

"Let her go." He began, slowly approaching her. "Let her be free." He continued to move closer, not afraid of her. He was the Doctor and he was going to scare her the best way he could. With words. "Let her go or else—"

Kovarian broke into a laugh. They were nearly nose to nose now and the Doctor thought his stature would intimidate her. Apparently not.

Still with a wicked smile on her face, Kovarian spoke up, "Or else what, Doctor?" Her smile widened and she let out another chuckle as the Doctor said nothing, his jaw still set tight. "This is not how it’s supposed to happen and you know it."

Brushing against his jacket, Kovarian walked past him. The Doctor followed her with his eyes, still with no expression on his face. Kovarian walked to the table in the centre of the room where River had been moments ago. The Doctor watched her movement and wondered what she was intending to do. Then, his eyes caught something resting on the table, it was a book, a blue book. 

It was River’s diary.

His eyes grew wide as Kovarian took it in her hands. What was she going to do with it? He watched her as she came by the window, her back turned to him. She opened the diary and read some passages. She ran through pages with not a care in the world. 

Behind her, the Doctor stayed stoic, he couldn’t interfere because he didn’t know what she would do if he did. So, he simply watched her back with murderous eyes. How dared she read River’s diary, it was a private place. Even him wasn’t allowed to read it, it was their rule.

Suddenly, the Doctor was broken out of his head by Kovarian chuckling in front of him. A frown appeared on his face. What has she found? Did she know about them, about what bounded River and the Doctor together? Was she even aware River and him had a relationship even stronger than she could ever hope to have with her?

"Well, well, well…" Kovarian began, tutting. "This Melody looks very different from the girl I raised." The Doctor said nothing but watched her attentively. She talked to herself, "You let the children out for a little while and look what they become."

Her back was still to him, faced towards the window with the diary in her hands. The Doctor gazed at the window, unable to look any longer at the woman who broke his River. Rays of light were entering the room and illuminated it with a soft yellow glow, a part of the light was blocked out by the figure in front of the window. It created a halo around Kovarian’s figure, the only thing it could make him think of was evil. She looked evil, she was evil.

His attention refocused on Kovarian as the latter sighed, "There really isn’t much in this diary. I don’t know what I was expecting," She shook her head while reading. "She really has changed, what made her change in such a way?"

The Doctor stayed silent but inside of him his whole body burned with anger. Of course, River has changed. Everyone changed. She was no longer the murderer Kovarian raised her to be.

Kovarian huffed, "This book is really not interesting. There’s only details about her sex life with her _boy_ friend." She said the last part in a disdainful tone. "What a lot of rubbish."

The Doctor’s hearts began to pound in his chest. He didn’t even have the decency to blush at this information. No, this was very not good. Kovarian hadn’t made a move yet but she was now aware of this piece of their live. She now knew who he was to River, this was far from good. 

With his hearts beating rapidly and his inside burning with an inexhaustible fire, the Doctor strained to stay stoic. How he wished River wouldn’t have put this in her diary. But then, how could’ve she known.

He had to do something now, even if Kovarian was aware of their relationship he had to take the diary back from her hands. It was of too much importance.

He began to make a step in her direction but her mumbling aloud made him stop in his tracks. Straining his ears to listen, he came back to his initial position. 

"That’s weird," Kovarian whispered to herself. "I’m searching through every page of her diary but none of them contain names. Only pronouns and nicknames. What does that mean?"

A smile twisted at the Doctor’s lips. _Oh, that clever, ridiculous girl._ Of course, she wouldn’t let something that big fall into the wrong hands. Sometimes, the Doctor forgot River was a trained assassin and leaving clues behind was not permitted. 

Their secret was safe. Nobody could read River Song’s diary except River herself.

Time to move now, he told himself. Silently, he began to move towards her, trying to make the least of noise possible. He had to take the diary now, he had to do something. Now that he knew River couldn’t be saved from the suit he had to make a point. Alter the future in any way he could. Whether it was to delay the final blow or to make Kovarian change her mind. Either way, a small change could create something much bigger. Butterfly effect. 

Mission butterfly effect.

The Doctor approached Kovarian, he could nearly feel her scent around him. She appeared perfectly unaware of him coming closer to her back. Good, surprise effect was always more efficient. His hand raised up, ready to take the diary from her hands. He was so close, he could nearly touch her, he was so, _so_ close—

Suddenly, a white hot pain ran through his body. He didn’t know if it was his arm being twisted behind his back or the shot of electricity that ran through him the second after, but the pain left him breathless. A moment ago he was fine and now he felt himself falling to the ground. A loud thump revealed it was indeed him that has fallen down. 

He had just enough energy to push himself on his back, the effort leaving him wondering what in hell could have made him so weak all of a sudden. He groaned as the pain still seemed to run through his body. It was as if he had been struck by lighting. Did she just tase him? Bloody hell, that hurt! 

Moaning once again because of the pain, the Doctor blinked once or twice to regain his clear sight. His vision was blurred around the edges but he clearly saw Kovarian looking over him with a wicked smile. He didn’t know if it was because of his dazzled state but Kovarian seemed very proud of herself. Oh, who was he kidding? Of course, she was.

Kovarian began to talk and the Doctor had to focus his attention on her to hear her well. "You think I didn’t see you coming, Doctor? I’ve trained assassins, I’ve made them analyse every little option they had to be fully aware of their surroundings. And you know what the first lesson was?" The Doctor said nothing, quite unable to as his tongue seemed dry as sand. "Do you know what the first lesson was, Doctor?" She repeated more loudly, her tone becoming quite menacing.

The Doctor’s vision blurred once again but he blinked to refocus. His senses were screaming red alert and he just wanted her to go, to leave him alone. Stop this pain, anything. 

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t let go. Mission butterfly effect. He had to make a change. Gathering all his forces, he croaked out a single word. "No."

Kovarian smiled and crouched by his side. She took his jaw between her fingers and made him look at her. "Look in a fucking window." The Doctor said nothing, simply looking at her with as much of a menacing glare he could sustain. Still with his jaw between her fingers, Kovarian continued. "Anyone clever enough know not to attack someone in the back, especially if this person is in front of a window reflecting _everything_ behind them."

The Doctor only looked at her, his whole body was tingling and he couldn’t even move. The vision of Kovarian in front of him was becoming devilish. He didn’t know if it was because of what he received or just her normal face but it was beginning to scare him. His eyes were focused on her because this was the only thing he could clearly see.

His thought were fuzzy but there was one thing he couldn’t forget. Change time. 

He opened his mouth and uttered, "Come on," It was very hard for him to speak but he forced the words out of his mouth. "Kill me." Kovarian raised an eyebrow and leaned closer to him. "I know what," He stopped to wet his lips, the mere action was hard for him. "What’s coming for me." The Doctor felt his mind drifting away but he had to fight, he had to be strong. "You can," _Be strong_. "Do it right now." _I know you can_. "But," He took a large intake of breath, "But let Riv—" _River, help me_. "Let River go."

He released an uneven breath and saw Kovarian beginning to laugh in front of him. She secured her fingers around his jaw and forced him to look at her. "Doctor, little Doctor. Time can’t be rewritten." She travelled her index finger over his cheekbone, the wicked smile still adorning her face. "It’s not your time yet. But when it’ll come," She leaned closer and the Doctor felt her breath on him, "You’ll be the first to know."

Then, Kovarian laughed heartily and stood up, releasing the Doctor face. His head bobbed to the side, the only thing he could see was her blurred heels. He saw them walking out of his sight but he knew Kovarian was still there.

"Oh, and another thing." He heard her speak up. Her voice was now muffled by the ringing of his ears but he could still make out the words. "Second lesson to be an assassin: decode encrypted messages." The ringing was becoming louder and he could barely understand what she was saying. "Here, catch," Not having the time to think about what she had just said he saw River’s diary fall on the ground next to his face. The thump of the diary came stronger to his ears but blocked the ringing for a moment. That’s why he heard her last word that chilled his bones. "Sweetie."

He felt cold all of a sudden and black dot made their way into his vision. But he kept his gaze on River’s diary, if this was the only thing that could save him in this moment he would hang onto it. He tried to move his hand in its direction but his arm felt heavy and stuck, as if glued to the floor.

At last, he heard a faint singing voice behind him, "Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock," His vision darkened and he was soon plunged in darkness. He felt sweaty and very cold at the same time. But the voice didn’t stop, "And all too soon, your love will surely die."

A buzzing sound echoed and the Doctor wondered if he has been tased once again, but no more pain came. No, he was alone now. She was gone, she has teleported away. He felt his muscles relax and a veil of unconsciousness enveloped him. He gladly welcomed it.

But then, why was the song still echoing in his head?

_Tick tock, goes the clock_

_He cradled her and he rocked her_

_Tick tock, goes the clock_

_Even for the Doctor…_

—

The Doctor slowly opened his eyes and blinked once or twice to accommodate his vision to his surroundings. His whole body was achy and stiff. He didn’t remember what he was doing here, laying on the floor and waking up from what looked like a year of sleep.

He groaned as he placed his hand behind his neck, massaging the knots that had appeared there. The movement felt so complex for his achy body. What the hell had happened to him?

He was aware of the window behind him, casting a soft orange glow of the sunset. How long has he been laying there? Slowly, he turned his head to the side and caught sight of River’s diary, carelessly thrown next to his face.

All of a sudden, everything came back to him. His talk with Craig, the confrontation with Kovarian, him being tased. The remembrance of all that set a heavy weight on his stomach. With an immeasurable effort, he extended his hand in the direction of River’s diary. His fingers brushed against the cover and after some time of struggle he finally took hold of it.

Setting back in his initial position, he hugged the diary against his chest. It was alright now, he was there, he would never let it out of his sight ever again.

But deep inside him he knew, he knew the battle he’s been trying to fight was slowly getting out of his hands. He wouldn’t be able to protect it for long. Not anymore.

He has been so wrong, time couldn’t be changed. He should have known, he did know this could have never worked out. The big bad Time Lord, always trying to help, always doing his best for the safety of others. Time couldn’t be rewritten, that’s not how it worked, and that’s not how it will ever work.

He was going to die and that’s the only path he could take. He could not escape his death, he could not escape anyone’s death. He hugged River’s diary closer to his chest and looked at the ceiling. When he will stand up, the only thing he’ll be able to do is walk to his death. Wherever he’ll go, it’s his death awaiting him.

"It’s not fair." He whispered to himself. Future wasn’t fair to him, he’s given up so much for the sake of the future, for the sake of the people’s peace. He thought the future would at least grant him one chance, one moment in time where everything was fine.

But he was forgetting that it already did, the future had already granted him one chance. That day at the Sisters when he decided not to abandon River in the 51st century. This day, the future has been altered.

"How did it work, then?" He wondered out loud. It was only three years ago for him but it seemed like a lifetime. Funny how the notion of time seemed so different since he met River. His age astonished him and he often wondered how he could have lived so much time. Before he met River and her parents, time was a dimension he felt superior to. He could jump through time, through periods with not a care in the world. One minute he was watching the big bang and the other he was watching the end of the universe. 

Before River, he was a man out of time.

But now, he was no longer an invisible entity walking the earth and leaving trails of time dust. He was there, he was present, he was substantial and real. Since River met him, he’s become quite present in the Ponds’ life. He lived with them from times to times and felt like he belonged to an era. More than that, he felt like he belonged to earth. Earth has become his adoptive planet and he was proud to call it _home_. 

And now the future was taking this from him. Once again, the future was forbidding him peace. But then, how did he manage to change time in such a way at the Sisters. Surely there was some fault into this whole time thing. He just needed to find the weakest point and work around it.

Then, it dawned on him. The Doctor smiled at the ceiling and it hurt his face because it has been so long. Time’s weakest point was the Doctor’s strength. Words. Was he finally seeing the end of this tunnel plunged into darkness? 

For so long he has been holding on to the notion of changing the future but that’s not what he has done at the Sisters. He hasn’t changed the future at all this day.

He simply _altered_ it.

Altering it meant it was still true to someone. River had thought it was the normal path they were taking. But it wasn’t, it was only true to her eyes. If someone still believed it was the right path to take, the future, nasty beast that it was, would never see the trickery. 

The Doctor’s hearts began to pound in his chest. An idea was finally forming in his head and the thought made his hearts jump in his ribcage. He had to die, but only for their eyes.

Trust and sight are the only thing the future demands.

He would have to trick his death, then. But how? The fact that River would shoot him was inevitable, her suit controlled her every move and it was an inevitable fixed point in his death. One way or another she would have to shoot him and one way or another he would need to make it true. 

He needed to take the blow but he couldn’t be on the other side of the gun. The best thing would be to have a replica of his own body, some kind of robot. Resistant enough to be shot but still mimicking his every move, mimicking his very own processus of regeneration. But how could he find something like that, it’s not as if it could be found in every cor—

"The tesselecta!" 

The Doctor abruptly sat up. The movement made his head pound for a second and his vision blurred at the sudden change of position. The tesselecta owned him, and it was time to make good work of it. Today, he was going to alter the future and for the rest of his days he would do so to be with his family, his Ponds.

Because today was not the day he died. Today was the day the Doctor _lived_.

Slowly, the Doctor stood up on his shaky legs. The ache in his muscles was still there but rapidly fading away. Placing River’s diary in his inside pocket, next to his left heart, he made his way to the TARDIS.

In the end, Craig could have never made him change the future because the future is written in a certain way and can’t be rewritten in any other way. But, without realising it, Craig gave the Doctor something much more important. He gave him hope. 

Hope for his survival, hope for his future.

Altering the future was a notion different from changing it. Because altering the future came first with altering one’s own thinking.

 


	3. When Suddenly I Saw You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is 'Venus' by Sleeping At Last

In the end, nothing had worked as planned.

In his great plan, he had forgotten a factor. It was stupid, really. _He_ was stupid.

It was silly to think he was the only one affected by his death. It was silly to think he was the only one who would prevent it.

Of course, River would have elaborated her own plan to save him. Of course, she would have changed time to avoid his death.

But River didn’t have sufficient knowledge in paradoxes and fixed points to elaborate something that wouldn’t alter the future. She was still young and driven by her emotions instead of thinking with the rational part of her brain. 

His fault, really. _He_ had been the one on the other side of the gun. Of course, in this instant, her emotions would have taken the control of her.

But now, his plan had been disrupted. He had only thought rationally and had forgotten the emotional factor. Whereas, River had done the opposite. One couldn’t work without the other, and if so, it would have created damages.

It _had_ created damages.

They were stuck in an alternate timeline where time wasn’t moving and showed constantly the same hour, 5:02 PM, the time of his death. Reality was disintegrating and he and River were the only one who could make this change. 

He had to make her understand this, he had to make her understand that time would not be able to cope with this disruption. He had to convince her to touch him to restore time, but touching him meant killing him. His River was stubborn and she wouldn’t let that happen.

He had to convince her. He had to find a way.

But he couldn’t tell her about the tesselecta. Everyone had to believe that he would die, if not, time would not accept it.

Once again, the only thing he could rely upon was hope. Hope that River would understand. Hope that River would see through his mask and play the part. Because it was the only way to save _time_. 

—

Amy lead him through the corridors of this pyramid. It was impressive, really. He was supposed to be mad at River -which he was, thank you very much-, but damn, she was spectacularly talented. Stealing a pyramid, this was…unbelievably _sexy_. 

Shaking the thought out of his head -putting it in a corner, more so-, the Doctor refocused his attention on what was awaiting him behind this closed door. His intention was to make Rive touch him to restore the timelines. It was his only goal and he could not let himself be sidetracked by River’s _amazing_ abilities to steal pyramids.

The large door opened before them and revealed a big place bubbling with people running around and soldiers in uniforms. Everyone with no exception wore an eye patch. The Doctor had first refused to wear this contraption for obvious reasons -he knew a lot about fashion and one thing he was aware of was that eye patches didn’t went well with bowties-, but had later agreed on it because of the help it provided him with remembering the Silences.

His eyes, well eye, fell instantly on the figure in the middle of the room, the mass of curls giving her away instantly. A small smile twitched at the corner of his lips but he quickly set it back into a frown. Should not be too pleased to see her after what she’d done to reality. Was kind of a bit, though.

"Hi, Honey. I’m home." He delivered his usual catchphrase and River slowly turned around. She was such a drama queen.

"And what sort of time do you call this?" She replied, waving a piece of paper in his face. A smile appeared on the Doctor’s lips, the type of smiles that said 'get that smug grin off your face'. 

River walked away to reveal Kovarian handcuffed to a chair. The Doctor’s smug smile turned to a fake one. When Kovarian answered River’s rhetorical question, he internally rolled his eyes. "The death of time. The end of time. The end of us all." It was true, he was quite astonished by how pathetic she looked. "Oh, why couldn't you just die?"

"Did my best, dear. I showed up." He responded without missing a beat, throwing a glance in River’s direction. The latter hid a smile. Deciding a little walk sounded good, he slowly made his way behind Kovarian’s chair. "You just can't get the psychopaths these days. _Love_ what you've done with the pyramids. How did you swing all this?" He had to say, he was genuinely intrigued. 

"Hallucinogenic lipstick. Works wonders on President Kennedy. And Cleopatra was a real pushover." The Doctor suppressed the need to roll his eyes. Of course, she did. It was River after all.

And it was true, Cleo _was_ a pushover. "I always thought so." 

"She mentioned you." River said, her tone quite emphasising her delight. The Doctor couldn’t help but smile.

"What did she say?" He asked, quite interested in knowing that Cleo gossiped over him, with River.

"Put down that gun." She replied, matter of factly, and the Doctor raised an eyebrow. Oh, River was so jealous when it came to him. He shouldn’t like that. Did quite a bit. 

"Did you?" He asked smugly.

River shrugged, "Eventually."

"Oh, they're flirting. Do I have to watch this?" Kovarian spoke up behind River, a disgusted look on her face. Well, she could just close her eyes, the Doctor thought, she was already halfway there. The eye patch was annoying but one thing it didn’t stop him from doing was flirting. He could flirt perfectly well with one eye. 

"It was such a basic mistake, wasn't it, Madame Kovarian. Take a child, raise her into a perfect psychopath, introduce her to the Doctor." The Doctor cast a glance a Kovarian, his flirty mood now gone. What was River doing? She was making fun of the situation where she should be focusing on the seriousness of it. He glanced back at River to see her looking straight at him. She sighed with a shrug. "Who else was I going to fall in love with?" 

"It’s not funny, River. Reality is fatally compromised. Tell me you understand that?" He knew she did understand, but she was ignoring what was at stake. She was ignoring the fact that he had to restore time, with her help. She needed to go his way.

"Dinner?"

"I don’t have the time." Why was she like that? But, he understood why she was acting this way. It was all a matter of facade. She wouldn’t let Kovarian see the lines of worry of her face, she made fun of the situation the best way she could, by flirting. But she couldn’t anymore, they didn’t have the _time_. "Nobody has the time, because as long I'm alive, time is dying. Because of you, River." 

"Because I refused to kill the man I love." She said flatly. 

He couldn’t keep on playing games like that. He had to do something, and if this something meant he had to rush River out of her comfort zone, he would. He needed to push her over the edge, make her angry. "Oh, you love me, do you?" He knew, low blow. Hurt as much for him to say that than it was for River to hear it. "Oh, that's sweet of you. Isn't that sweet?" He walked to her and heard Amy shout orders to soldiers behind him. He didn’t care, he had to touch her. If she could just slap him, it would be wonderful. "Come here, you."

Soldiers restrained him before he could touch her. River hadn’t even flinched, she knew he would not do such a thing. "I'm not a fool, sweetie. I know what happens if we touch." But that’s the thing, he would. He certainly would.

He waited a few seconds for the soldiers to release their grip on him before he threw a smile at them and lurched forwards to grab at River’s wrist. He held tight into her and knew he must be hurting her, but he had to do this. He could hear River shouting orders but he didn’t care. "I’m sorry, River, it’s the only way!"

Suddenly, he saw flashes of the beach where he was killed. River had tears streaming down her face and her right arm rose in the air, ready to shoot. Then, as suddenly as this image came, they were back into the pyramid. River had broken free of his grip and was now nursing her bruised wrist. The Doctor was quickly restrained by soldiers, this time more vigorously.

River glared at him, "Cuff him." She uttered and walked behind Kovarian’s chair.

He sighed, "Oh, why do you always have handcuffs?" He didn’t miss her coming behind Kovarian. If she thought this woman would protect her from him she was wrong. "It's the only way. We're the opposite poles of the disruption. If we touch, we short out the differential. Time can begin again."

"And I'll be by a lakeside, killing you." She responded, sadness apparent in her voice. He knew she understood. She was clever, but she was also too emotionally driven by her fear of killing him. Sometimes, the feelings of the heart were too strong for the feelings of the brain to understand.

"And time won't fall apart. The clocks will tick. Reality will continue. There isn't another way." He was the rational one but, in this instant, he wondered why he was making her do this. Why he was making her suffer. 

"I didn’t say there was, sweetie." Because he _was_ making her suffer. He could hear it in her voice, in her everything. He had known her for too long to ignore the fact that she was, in this instant, suffering.

Then, he saw what he hadn’t seen for a long time. He saw River school her features and hide her emotions. How he wished to never see this face on his River. But here it was, and he could only play the game with her.

"There are so many theories about you and I, you know." She spoke up and the Doctor couldn’t help but frown internally.

"Idle gossip." He simply replied. 

"Archaeology." River corrected.

At this, the Doctor was forced to roll his eyes. "Same thing."

"Am I the woman who marries you, or the woman who murders you?" He gulped but quickly schooled his features. He had to repeat to himself that his goal was to push her over the edge, he couldn’t go soft on her.

"I don’t want to marry you." He delivered the blow and felt his inside constrict because it hurt to say such things. Even if they were not true. 

Nothing slipped out of River’s emotionless face and he was glad of this. He couldn’t have coped with the faintest trace of hurt in her face. "I don’t want to murder you." She replied, her voice as flat as his.

"This is no fun at all."

"It isn’t, is it?" The Doctor wanted to replied something but Amy spoke up beside him, worry in her voice making him turn to her.

"Doctor, what’s that?" She asked, looking up at the ceiling where tiny droplets were falling on them.

He looked up too and a frown formed on his face. "The pyramid above us. How many Silence do you have trapped inside it?" His question was directed to Kovarian and he saw her smiling devilishly at them.

"None. They're not trapped. They never have been. They've been waiting for this, Doctor… For you." He didn’t even have the time to think about a clever thing to do that Rory stumbled into the room.

"They’re out! All of them!" He shouted and all the men in the room sprang into action. " No one gets in here! Ma'am, my men out there should be able to lock this down. We have them outnumbered."

"And you're wearing eye drives based on mine, I think. Oops." Kovarian piped in, her smug voice making him want to slap that grin of her face.

"What do you mean?" He asked, his voice menacing. All of a sudden, he heard one of the scientist scream and clutch at her eye patch. "Help her! Help her!" He shouted, feeling helpless as he was still handcuffed.

Amy went by her side but didn’t have to remove the eye patch. She looked up at the Doctor. "She’s dead." She whispered.

Then, the Doctor’s eye patch activated. Amy came to his side and helped him remove his eye patch as the electricity ran through him. Finally free of it, his vision accommodated to his renewed eye and he blinked once or twice. His eyes fell on Kovarian as she spoke up again, a content grin adorning her face.

"The Silence would never allow an advantage without taking one themselves. The effects will vary from person to person." He approached her slowly. "Either death or debilitating agony. But they will take you all, one by one." He set his jaw tight but then saw her own eye patch beginning to activate. Kovarian frowned, "What are you doing? No, it's me. Don't be stupid. You need me." The Doctor felt a part of him wanting to save her too from this but he remembered that she was Kovarian and had made River’s childhood a living hell. He didn’t care that much.

Turning back to River, he met her eyes and spoke up. "We could stop this right now, you and I." As River didn’t respond, he groaned and glanced at Amy. "Amy, tell her." Maybe if River didn’t listen to him she would listen to her mother.

"We've been working on something. Just let us show you." Why couldn’t they understand? Why couldn’t they go his way?

"There's no point. There's nothing you can do. My time is up." They had to understand that nothing could be done to alter the future. Nothing!

"We’re doing this for you!" Amy replied, she was getting angry at him for not listening.

"Then people are dying for me. I won't thank you for that, Amelia Pond." He knew his Ponds were stubborn. Why couldn’t they be stubborn another time?! When reality wasn’t disintegrating, for example. 

"Just let us show you." River pleaded at Amy’s side. He sighed and dropped his head to his chest. Amy took it for a yes and turned to Rory. 

"Captain Williams, how long do we have?" 

"Hum, a couple of minutes." Rory replied and looked back as the door banged with the Silences in the other side of the door.

"That’s enough." River said looking straight at him. "We're going to the Receptor Room right at the top of the pyramid. I hope you're ready for a climb." He could only nod and follow her. This short time was all he needed to convince her to restore time. 

The staircase to the top of the pyramid was steep and narrow, he had to watch his every step. Being handcuffed didn’t help either and he wondered how River could walk up the stairs with those hellish heels.

He watched her silently, she wouldn’t dare talk and the tension was palpable between the two of them. He could see her shoulders hunched over and the weight of it all showing on her muscles. He _did_ know her, even when she schooled her features, he could alway see through her.

"River," He began and saw her shoulders tense at her name being spoken. He sighed, "River, you can stop acting now. Nobody can see you." River said nothing, ignoring him. "You know I hate when you do this."

He heard River huff before him. At least she was listening, he told himself. He knew River was stubborn but he alway knew she was always listening to him. 

Better get to the point then. "River, I have no choice but to die. And you know that as well as I do." He knew he wouldn’t die, if only she let him restore their timeline. But, nonetheless, he had to make her think that he was really going to die. If not, the future would not accept it. 

But, he also knew that River was clever. She could see through him as well as he could see through her. He knew that if she wanted she could see the trickery of the tesselecta. But that was the point, wasn’t it. She wasn’t looking at him properly, she didn’t _want_ to look at him properly.

"We have to restore the timeline." He said. "You and I, we’re the only one able to restore it. This is not about you or me, this is about the lives of millions, billions of people." River stayed stoically walking in front of him. "River, I have to die."

At his big surprise, River cleared her throat and spoke up. "Shut up. Don’t say anything." She stopped for a second and the Doctor watched her attentively. Her saw her shaking her head before she resumed. "Don’t say anything, walls have ears."

He fell silent. The only sound echoing through the narrow stairs was the sound of his steps and her heels on the stone. 

After a few seconds he decided to speak up, -he was never one to do as told- "River," He wanted to get her attention. When he saw her shoulders tense, he knew she was listening to him. Even if it wasn’t the best of times, he had to tell her this. Quietly, he whispered something in Gallifreyan, nearly imperceptible to the human ear.

River abruptly stopped and he nearly walked into her, stopping himself just before they touched. He took a step back as River turned around, her eyes red as if she had been on the verge of tears.

"How can you say you love me when you’re making me suffer in such a way?" He opened his mouth to respond but she stopped him with a wave of the hand. "Why can’t you understand that killing you is a torture to me?"

"That’s how things are supposed to be. And I can’t change it. And _you_ can’t change it, either." He said and saw River shook her head. "You have to accept the fact that I need to die."

River pressed her lips together and shook her head once again. "I- I can’t."

He saw tears welling up in her eyes and felt his hearts constrict in his chest. His River was back to him, there wasn’t any wall separating them anymore. But his River had to be strong, because in the end everything would work out fine. At this moment, he saw her, the real her. But it was her turn to see him as he was, she had to look at him properly.

He couldn’t tell her that he wasn’t going to die, that he had a plan. But, in this moment he thought he needed to give her something to hang unto. 

Taking a deep breath, he asked River to look at him. She did and he saw the heartbroken expression in her eyes. If she could just look at his. "If I could touch you right now, I would brush the tears out of your cheeks. And then, I would kiss each of your eyes until they were dry."

River’s lips twitched in a half smile.

Her smile made his hearts jump in his ribcage, that’s the River he wanted to see. "I know you’re strong. I know you’re clever, _very_ clever. You always know when someone is lying and you can always see through people’s mask. My mask too, even more. Sometimes, the answer is too close to be seen. Sometimes, you just have to _look_."

River frowned at his words and opened her mouth to speak but the voices of Amy and Rory could be heard from downstairs. They were coming towards them. All of a sudden, River’s facade was back on and she turned around, beginning to make her way at the top. 

The Doctor was left alone in the stairs, unable to move. He sighed. 

He had been so close. _She_ had been so close to understand. He heard River shouting at him to speed up from above and was forced to move up. He still had a long way ahead of him.

When he arrived at the top of the pyramid, his eyes were instantly drawn to the contraption in the center of the platform. "What’s this?" He looked at it more thoroughly and cut River as she began to explain. "Oh, it's as timey-wimey distress beacon. Who built this?"

"I'm the child of the Tardis. I understand the physics." River replied, proud of herself. 

"But that's all you've got," He said, his tone coming harsher than he had expected. "A distress beacon." He didn’t miss River’s glare but decided to ignore it. He didn’t even know why he was angry at her. He wasn’t, but the whole situation had set him on edge and the fact that River wouldn’t understand riled him up even more.

"I've been sending out a message. A distress call." He didn't want to admit it but it was quite impressive. What she has done _was_ impressive. He listened more closely to what she was saying. "Outside the bubble of our time, the universe is still turning, and I've sent a message everywhere." A small smile began to grace his lips, she was really amazing. So, _so_ clever. "To the future and the past, the beginning and the end of everything. 'The Doctor is dying. Please, please help'."

The smile fell of his face. No! Why would she do that? It was useless, she could have used this beacon for something much more important. A distress call to help him meant nothing.

"River!" He half shouted. "River, this is ridiculous. That would mean nothing to anyone. It's insane. Worse, it's stupid." The heartbroken look on her face didn't stop him from saying the last word. "You embarrass me." She was left dumbstruck at his comment, choosing not to say anything. 

The Doctor felt the words setting a heavy weight on his chest and he wished to not have said them, if so, just to remove the look on River’s face from his memory. He was grateful that Amy interrupted this moment by coming at the top with Rory at her side. 

"We barricaded the door. We've got a few minutes. Just tell him." Amy said. When River didn’t say anything, her mother urged her to do so. "Just tell him, River."

Gulping back the lump in her throat, River glanced back at the Doctor. "Those reports of the sun spots and the solar flares. They're wrong. There aren't any. It's not the sun, it's you. The sky is full of a million, million voices saying yes, of course we'll help." He opened his mouth to say something but River continued. "You've touched so many lives, saved so many people. Did you think when your time came, you'd really have to do more than just ask? You've decided that the universe is better off without you, but the universe doesn't agree."

"River," He wanted to be mad at her. He wanted things to go as planned. But he had of course forgotten the emotional factor. River had to understand that he had to be killed but a part of him simply wanted to give up. To tell her. Tell her that everything was fine, he was fine. But he knew he couldn’t, not now. "No one can help me. A fixed point has been altered. Time is disintegrating."

"I can’t let you die."

"But I have to die." Why was she making it so hard to him? Why was she being so perfect in saving him? Why was he being so weak towards her words? But, in the end, he knew why. Emotional factor. _His_ emotional factor. He couldn’t let her suffer.

"Shut up!" She shouted and his attention was directed to her, even the Ponds were looking startled at her. "I can't let you die without knowing you are loved by so many, and so much," He saw the tears glistening at the corner of her eyes and felt his own tears threatening to envelop him. "And by no one more than me." She whispered at last, her voice full of tears.

Gulping back his emotions, he tried to make the rational part of him outcome this situation. "River, you and I, we know what this means. We are ground zero of an explosion that will engulf all reality. Billions on billions will suffer and die." 

"I’ll suffer if I have to kill you." She said, tears threatening to fall down her cheeks.

He had to ignore the tears and be rational. At this moment, his job was to be rational. "More than every living thing in the universe?" He nearly shouted and River fell silent.

She looked at him with big eyes, full of tears. And, he knew the answer. Of course, he knew the answer. He could see it in her eyes, it emanated from her whole being. At last, she whispered one single word. "Yes."

There was a silence between them and he simply watched her for a moment. He didn't know what to do now, his body was torn between rationality and his emotions. And, in the end, his emotions got the better of him. As they alway did.

"River, Rivah, why do you have to be this?" His anger got the better of him. But he wasn't angry at her, he was angry at himself. Angry because he didn't managed to keep his emotions down. He had been weak and every part of him was beginning to crack under the weight of it all. "Melody Pond, your daughter. I hope you're both proud."

Then, he suddenly turned around. He had to think. What should he do now? The reality was ending and he had to restore it, with the help of River. And, he knew she would not be willing to help him if she thought it meant his death. The only way to restore the universe was to tell her, he had to tell her without _telling_ her. He had to lead the way in forcing her to look at him. The only way he could do this was by doing something grand, something emotional, something she’ll remember. 

He sighed. Well, he hadn’t intended to do this _right now_ but it seemed like a good time as ever. He looked up at the sky full of stars. "Amy, uncuff me now." When Amy had uncuffed him, he released a shaky breath. He turned around swiftly, a renewed smile adorning his face. "Okay, I need a strip of cloth about a foot long. Anything will do. Never mind." He said before anyone could talk. He untied his bowtie and cast a glance at River who looked at him with a puzzled face. "River, take one end of this. Wrap it around your hand, and hold it out to me."

River took the bowtie and began to wrap it around her hand, not really understanding where the Doctor was going. "What am I doing?"

"As you’re told." He replied quickly. "Now, we're in the middle of a combat zone, so we'll have to do the quick version. Captain Williams, say I consent and gladly give." 

"To what?" Said the puzzled Rory. Everyone what a bit puzzled by what the Doctor was doing. 

"Just say it. Please."

"I…consent and gladly give." 

The Doctor turned his gaze to Amy. " Need you to say it too," He turned his gaze back to River before uttering the last words."Mother of the bride."

"I consent and gladly give." Amy said quickly, her consent actually showing in her words. 

There he was, the Doctor, ready to get married. Now that he had River’s full attention, there was only one thing left to do. Tell her. But Amy and Rory couldn’t know, only him and River needed to be aware of this. It was their little secret.

The only clue River needed was in his eyes. "Now River," It was time. "I’m about to whisper something in your ear, and you have to remember it very, very carefully, and tell no one what I said."

River nodded and he leaned into her personal space. He brought his mouth to her ear, as close as he could get without touching her. 

At last, he whispered, "Look into my eye." He pulled back and saw River looking straight into him. She let out a small gasp and a smile began to grace her lips. He realised that the Ponds were looking at him with an inquiring look. He had to say something clever. So, he said the first thing that came to his mind. "I just told you my name." It wasn’t true, of course. River already knew his name. 

Seeing River’s face blooming with happiness made him smile. At last, she has understood. Because she was clever. And now that she was aware of the full intent of his plan, he hoped she would be willing to help him restore the universe.

"Now, there you go, River Song. Melody Pond. You're the woman who married me." Now was the time, it was time to restore the universe. Then, everything would fall back into place. "And wife, I have a request. This world is dying and it's my fault, and I can't bear it another day. Please, help me. There isn't another way."

River smiled, "Then you may kiss the bride." She made a step in his direction. Their tied hands were nearly touching now.

The Doctor’s hearts jumped out of his ribcage. He made a step towards her and he could nearly felt her curls touching his face. "I’ll make it a good one." His voice was low so that only her could hear.

"You better." River whispered and their lips finally touched in a sealing kiss. The Doctor felt his inside explode with light. He didn’t know if it was because of the reality coming back into place around them or just the fact that River was kissing him. It may have been both, he wasn’t certain.

One thing that he was certain of was that this kiss was way to more heated to be shared in front of River’s parents. But he didn't really care. He was restoring time!

The last lucid thought he had was of him pulling River closer, a hand placed on her waist and the other cupping her cheek. Their first kiss as a married couple was definitely a good one.

Then, everything turned to black.

—

_Tick tock goes the clock,_

_He gave all he could give._

_Tick tock goes the clock,_

_Now prison waits for River._


	4. You Got Time, and Time Is Everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is 'Something’s Gotta Give' by OneRepublic.

Her arms were twisted behind her back, her hands were held together by handcuffs that were literally too big for her averagely small wrists. River thought she’ll wait before breaking free of them, it would bruise the Stormcage guards’ ego. And that’s the only thing that would be bruised. 

It’s not as if she was trying to help them, but damn, they weren’t even trying to restrain her. Where did they get their diploma of prison guarding? In a lucky bag, surely.

Plus, she couldn’t even flirt with them. They didn’t respond to anything she said, which left her babbling alone for most of the times. She couldn’t even see their faces since they wore helmets. It was no fun at all.

The sound of her combat boots on the metallic floor echoed through the corridors. Two guards were holding her arms behind her back and urged her to walk forwards. She had been demanded at the chief’s office. Or whatever it was in a prison facility. Not that she minded, she’d been rooting in her cell for a little less than two months and this was her first big outing down the corridors. The guards were so dumb they didn’t even thought about blindfolding her.

There was an emergency exit two corridors from where she was, turn left once, then right twice, then forwards for half a mile. On the other side of the wing was a big hangar full of teleport pods and small shuttles. Not that she had counted.

Sometimes, she even wondered if the guards were on her side. Then she remembered that if they were on her side it meant that they were pro-Doctor killing. 

No, they definitely weren’t.

She’s been in Stormcage for nearly two months now and she couldn’t say things were going great. She had been placed in a dirty old cell that stunk like man’s sweat. The former occupant of her cell must have liked the prison’s hygiene.

But one thing that was great was that, since she was the only woman in Stormcage, she had acquired a bathroom only for her. Regaining a bit of privacy was always a good thing. Especially if her roommates were all males and most of them not human nor humanoid. The guards were more jolly with her, since she was a woman and thus the center of attention. But they still hadn’t wanted to grant her number one wish. Conditioner. She couldn’t live without conditioner!

At the moment, she was joking about all the nasty sides of Stormcage. But still, inside her she didn’t felt all that joyful. The truth was that she missed her normal life. It was a bit ridiculous for her to say this, but River Song missed normality. She missed the weekends with her parents and she missed the time she spent in Leadworth. Plus, she missed _him_.

She knew the Doctor wasn’t dead. She might even be the only one to know. But what was the point in knowing this if, in the end, she was stuck in prison. What was the point of all of this? She had been thinking about this issue for two months now and she could only come to a simple conclusion. She missed him. She missed everyone. She missed her life.

It’s when one’s lost everything that one realise what they once had.

River knew she couldn’t dwell on this. This was how it was supposed to be now. She couldn’t change a thing if she wanted to. Or could she?

River was thrown out of her day dream when the guards suddenly stopped walking. She looked up to see that the guards had stopped in front of a door. The door was been guarded by two other guards that looked exactly like the ones escorting her. But then, they all looked alike.

One of her guard approached the two men and talked vividly in a hushed voice. The men nodded and cleared to way to the door. The guard still holding her arm urged her forwards and into the chief’s room. The room was dark, only lit by a single light on the ceiling. The chief stood seated in his chair behind his desk, his elbow resting on the desk and an intrigued glare directed to her.

Internally, she wanted to laugh because, gosh, it looked so much like one of Rory’s old movies where the bad guy wants to appear…well _bad_. Unsuccessfully. She pressed her lips together to suppress a grin. The chief waved his hand to make the guards let go of her and when they did she threw them a wink. Just for good measure.

"Miss Song," The chief began. "You would have noticed that we have brought you here on the most urgent command." She bet they did, she has been awoken by guards banging on the metallic bars of her cell. Who in heaven demanded a hearing at six in the morning? Or whatever morning looked like in here. "Some… _information_ have been coming through about your sentence for the past month and we thought right to enlighten you about it."

A frown began to form on her face. What information? What were they talking about?

At her frown, the chief continued. "It appears that there has been a… a fault." The gears began to turn inside River’s head. What were they talking about? She didn’t understand. "It seems like different cases have been mingled together and that yours has been thrown in the middle." River looked at the chief with wide eyes. The latter was uncomfortably explaining their fault. "Because, it appears that the man you killed… doesn’t exist."

Doesn’t exist. _Doesn’t exist?_ River felt hot all of a sudden. What has this man done? Surely he hasn’t jumped into a time crack and erased his whole existence. She wouldn't remember him, would she? At this instant, River felt at a lose, she didn’t know what to think. There was too much information coming at her.

"But Miss Song," The chef spoke up and River felt obliged to look back up at him. "You understand that this facility is one of the most secure of this galaxy. If people heard about this foolish mistake the reputation of Stormcage would be downfallen."

River furrowed her brows. Surely, as evil as this chief was, he had thought about everything in his little game. Whatever was coming, it didn’t look well. She schooled her features to not let her emotions reflect on her face.

"And we simply can’t let that happen." The chief said with a grin. And there it was. The devilish grin. "Your innocence here means nothing to your sentence. We simply can’t revise your sentence. We gave you freedom of mind but we can’t give you physical freedom. You are to stay in Stormcage as long as your sentence last."

Rive was left dumbstruck. She was free but she couldn’t be freed from Stormcage. For the sake of its reputation? This was a nightmare, she was going to wake up any time soon. Worse than being sentenced for something she actually did, she was sentenced for the sake of Stormcage. This fucking 51st century with his fucking reputation.

"You better start praying for a sentence revision." The chief said and cast a glance at the guard on her left. "You," He said, pointing to him. "Lead her back to her cell."

The guard nodded and took hold on her arm, leading her out of the room. At least this guard seemed like the less strong of the two. It would be easier to knock him out.

They began to walk in the direction of her cell. If the chief thought she was going back into that dirty old cell, he was barking up the wrong tree. River tried to walk as casually as she could but she was planning up a whole escape route in her head. From the corner of her eyes, she glanced at the CCTVs. She waited for a blind spot, the worse would be to be seen on camera and setting the alarm off.

She felt the grip of the guard loosen on her arm and internally rolled her eyes. Was he even trying? What was it with the guards and being a little loose on the rules? Was it because she was a woman? But no, it couldn’t be, it was the 51st century. People didn’t behaved like that anymore.

Anyway, she’d broken free of her handcuffs a while ago. Now, it was just a matter of time.

They rounded a corner and River caught sight of an alley, a maintenance one which wasn’t overlooked by CCTVs. _Great, now's my cue_. 

Suddenly, she turned around and punched the guard in the guts. The latter, first surprised by her sudden move, gasped and then doubled over at the blow. As quickly as she delivered the first blow, River kneed him where she knew it would hurt. The guard fell to the floor ungracefully, holding his nuts in his hands as he groaned out, "Rivah!"

River wasted no time, she began to run in the direction of the alley. If she had examined the area well this would lead to an open space where rested teleport pods. 

Just as she rounded the corner, she gasped and abruptly stopped. She was nose to nose with the TARDIS. Her eyes widened. What was the TARDIS doing here? Not thinking much about it, she rapidly ran in its direction.

She came to the doors and banged on them, "Doctor!" As no reply came, she tried the handle but the doors were locked shut. She banged on the doors one more time, the TARDIS wouldn’t open. She was stuck, in an alley at Stormcage, with a guard that was probably very angry with her at the moment. "Doctor!" She yelled through the doors one last time, in vain.

At last, she heard the guard coming her way and when she slowly turned around she saw him rounding the corner. Pressing her back against the TARDIS, she took a big intake of breath. Whatever he would do, she was safe in the force field of the TARDIS. Wasn’t she?

The guard walked towards her slowly, a hand still holding his manhood as he grunted. River looked around her to see something to help her fight him but she found nothing. She was alone against an armed guard.

"Don’t come closer or I’ll hurt you even more!" She said menacingly. She was certain she could fight him off with bare hands but he had a gun at his side and that’s what bothered her.

The guard walked up to her with a groan. "Bloody hell, I don’t think you could!" 

His tone wasn’t menacing, it looked more like a plea to not hurt him anymore. He brought a hand to his helmet and struggled with the clasps for a moment. He let out a groan of frustration and River looked at him, a puzzled look on her face.

Finally, he managed to remove the helmet and threw it on the side, releasing a long breath. "It was so hot in there!" He exclaimed, brushing his sweaty fringe out of his eyes.

River gasped, "Doctor!" And here he was, in front of her, dressed as a Stormcage guard. She felt a broad grin suddenly blooming across her face, every ounce of worry has evaporated as she found herself face to face with her Doctor.

"Of course it’s me!" He replied and her smile reflected on his own features. Then, suddenly it was replaced by a grimace. "Urg, River you bloody kneed me in the—hmff." His last words were muffled by River throwing herself at him.

She engulfed him in a tight hug, her arms around his neck as she found herself nearly on her tiptoe. The Doctor chuckled and circled his arms around her waist, scooping her from her feet and spinning her around. The delighted laugh from River made his hearts bloom in his chest.

When he resettled her on her feet, River placed her hands on his chest and gazed at him with an everlasting smile. "You’re here, you’re really here!" Her hands travelled to his face and drew him to her for a kiss. The Doctor smiled into it and caressed her cheeks with his thumbs.

After a few seconds, he drew away, "Of course, I’m really here." River opened her mouth to say something but she was cut by the alarm going off. "TARDIS?" The Doctor offered and River nodded. "Wait." He said and unbuckled the gun at his belt. He threw it on the side, next to his helmet and looked up at River. The latter grinned and he threw a wink at her, holding his hand in her direction for her to take.

He took her hand and together they ran into the TARDIS, feeling in security once they closed the doors behind them.

River leaned on the door and watched the Doctor ran to the console, making the TARDIS spring into action and dematerialise. When they were finally safe into the time vortex, the Doctor sighed and began to remove his guard uniform. "The Stormcage guards have a horrible fashion sense." He mumbled as he struggled to remove the chest pad, getting ride of his combat boots.

River chuckled and bit her lower lip. She pushed away from the door and slowly approached him. "I thought I’d never see you again." She said in a tiny voice and the Doctor looked up at her. "I’m in prison, and alone. And I thought I would never escape, I would never see you again."

The Doctor drew closer to her and took her face in his hands, he stroked her cheeks and a small smile appeared on his face. "River, you were never alone." At River’s puzzled look, he grinned. "Funny how, when wearing uniforms and badges, people stop looking at faces." River opened her mouth in shock and the Doctor chuckled. He passed a thumb over her cheek, "You were never alone, River. I’ve been watching over you the whole time."

River face broke into a smile and she threw her arms around his neck. That man, she thought. He was wonderful. She felt the Doctor press a kiss on her neck before pulling away.

She saw him remove a long chain from under his shirt and around his neck, he unclasped it and let a piece of jewellery slide off of it. River threw him an interrogative look and the Doctor grinned. As he opened his hand, River realised he was holding her ring, the ring he had gave her a long time ago on their first anniversary. It was dear to her hearts and had pained her greatly when she has been obliged to remove it when she was first brought to prison.

"I took it from them the first day you arrived here." He said and took her right hand in his. "Since then, I’ve been watching over you. With a part of you always between my hearts." He slid the ring on her middle finger. Then, he brought her hand to his mouth, deposing a small kiss on her knuckles.

"But why now? Why did you rescue me now? You’ve been watching over me for two months. Surely there were opportunities to rescue me back then." River pondered as she trailed her hands over his shirt.

"I couldn’t, not yet." He simply said and River opened her mouth to protest but he cut her with a kiss. "There was a thing, I needed to take care of this thing before rescuing you. During those two months, I’ve been roaming the universe erasing traces of me on books, statues, walls. Anywhere."

"That’s why the chief said you didn’t exist." River said, finally understanding. "You erased yourself from Stormcage database."

"Yes, I have." He exclaimed, bopping her nose. Then, his expression became serious once again and he took her face in his hands. "River, you’re free. Nobody can hold anything against you anymore because the man you killed simply doesn’t exist to them. You’re free from prison, honey."

River felt a broad grin beginning to grace her lips but she suddenly remembered a thing. "But, the chief. He said he wouldn’t let me go, that I can’t escape."

At this, the Doctor’s grin seemed to grow even wider. "But that’s where you’re wrong. I’ve been in this facility long enough to discover faults and other mistakes. I’ve done my researches and I have enough proofs to incriminate every single person working in Stormcage. They can’t hold anything against you, dear." He said at last and River felt a weight lift from her hearts. "You’re free."

"I’m free. I really am." She whispered to herself. She was left dumbstruck by the thought. For the past two months she’s been thinking about what the rest of her life would look like, locked inside a dirty cell, with no-one to talk to. But now… Now everything felt clearer to her. She finally saw a chance for her future. The Doctor wasn’t dead, she wasn’t in prison. Everything was fine.

A broad smile broke on her face and she jumped into the Doctor’s arm, startling him at first. Then, she brought his mouth to hers and everything felt right in the world. The Doctor pulled her to him by the waist and opened his mouth in a fervent kiss. River brought her hands to his hair and stroked his lips with her tongue before playfully biting them.

The Doctor groaned and pushed her against the console. River gasped into his mouth and smiled afterwards. Their mouth found each other again and they fought for dominance for quite some time. 

Suddenly, River broke the kiss with a gasp, leaving the Doctor blinking blearily at her. "We have to tell my parents! They don’t even know you’re alive. We have to go and tell them." She said and pushed him away to make her way to her room. 

The Doctor groaned and pulled her flush against him by the waist. "Alright, but we have all the time in the world. We’re in a time machine, don’t need to press things."

River relaxed and turned into his arms. "Okay, sweetie." She replaced a hand on his clothed chest. "Then, I think that I’ll go and take a shower. Do you know how horrible the showers are in the cells at Stormcage? They don’t even have conditioner. Conditioner!"

The Doctor chuckled and shook his head. River let go of him and made her way to the corridor. He decided that he was in dire need of a shower too. He began to run after River to catch up on her. "Wait for me!"

—

The Doctor knocked on the blue door of the Pond’s house. He could hear shuffling noise from the other side of the door and squeezed River’s hand in his own. It’s not that he was nervous about seeing the Ponds again, announcing that he was, in fact, not so dead, but still, there was a lump in his throat and knots in his stomach.

River squeezed his hand back, stroking his knuckles with her thumb. She knew everything was going to be fine, her parents were used to things like that. People dying then coming back to life. Her father was the archetype of dying-not-so-dying.

Suddenly, they heard the distinct voice of Amy Pond, a pissed Amelia Pond. "Argh! If this is another joke from you, young Jack Merridew, I have a water pistol! You don’t to be all wet when your mama gets home." She said as she threw open the door, her voice deflating when she saw who was on the other side of it.

She had her water pistol pointed at him and the Doctor could only gape at her. He opened and closed his mouth several times before throwing a look at River. The latter gave him a squeeze of the hand and a tentative smile.

The Doctor looked back at Amy, he wetted his lips. "Not absolutely sure how long…" He trailed off.

"Two months." She answered his unsaid question. The Doctor felt relieved, at least they were in the same time stream. No disturbance was ahead of them. Amy was glaring at him, he thought she had the right to be angry at him. He had left them without a word. But now he was back! He wondered if the Ponds were as excited as him.

Then, suddenly, he felt water on his face as Amy splashed him with her pistol. Okay, not so excited then. He shivered at the water hitting his face and made a grimace, removing the droplets with the back of his hand. Rive was looking at the interaction, not saying a word.

"Okay, fair point." He said at Amy. She _had_ the right to be angry, he supposed. At least it had only been two months. He wouldn’t imagine if it had been two years or more. Amy would have been properly furious, her Scottishness on full view.

"So, you’re not dead." Amy uttered, looking him up and down.

"And a happy anniversary!" He exclaimed. At least, he hoped it was their anniversary. If they were two months from the 22nd of April they weren’t far from the Pond’s anniversary, were they? He smiled at her, hoping that this’ll go smoothly.

Amy cast a glance at her daughter on the side. "River told us."

The Doctor gasped and glanced down at River. The latter was wide eyes, looking back and forth between the two. "No, I didn’t!" She said, shaking her head vigorously.

"Well, of course she did." The Doctor mumbled and River gasped at him. He made a grimace before correcting himself. "Future you, I mean. Well, now that we talked about it, you’ll be forced to tell Amy I wasn’t dead. Great." He groaned.

"She’s a good girl." Amy said, throwing a smile at River. The latter smile shyly in return. When Amy looked back at the Doctor, he was gazing at her without a word, waiting for something to happen. "Well? I’m not going to hug first."

The Doctor looked around him, feigning ignorance. "Nor am I." He shuffled on his feet, wondering if beginning to whistle was too much. Amy did the same, taking a particular interest in her pistol.

River watched the interaction for a few seconds before rolling her eyes. Sometimes she wondered who was the child in the family. Taking pity on the Doctor and Amy, she nudged the Doctor with her elbow, pushing him in the direction of her mother for him to do something. 

Their gaze met and River saw a small smile beginning to grace the Doctor’s lips. After holding for a few more seconds, Amy burst out laughing. The Doctor walked the few steps separating them before engulfing her in a tight hug. Behind them, River smiled to herself. Everything seemed back to normal.

Amy drew away from the hug, "Mister Pond! Guess who's coming for dinner?" Then, startling River from her thought, she took her daughter in her arms and hugged her as tight as she did with the Doctor. "Ugh, my little girl. I missed you." She whispered into her hair and River smiled, stroking her mother’s back. It was good to be back at home with the family.

When Amy pulled away, she saw her father coming out of the kitchen, a smile already adorning his face. As he caught sight of the Doctor, he exclaimed, "Whoa. Not dead, then."

"We’ve done that." Amy deadpanned.

"Oh." He sighed and River smirked. Yeah, her family was definitely back.

"We're about to have dinner. Joining us?" Amy offered and the Doctor opened his mouth, casting a questioning glance at River. The latter nodded swiftly and the Doctor smiled.

"If it’s no trouble." He exclaimed, setting his eyes back on the Ponds.

"There’s a place set for you two." Rory said, nodding in River’s direction and grinning at her when she threw him a wink.

The Doctor frowned, "But you didn't know we were coming. Why would you set us a place?" He gave a faint squeeze at River’s hand. She looked up at his face, seeing genuine confusion. That man, he could be so genuinely intrigued sometimes.

"Oh, because we always do." Amy replied, a serious face on. The Doctor looked at her in surprise. "You’re part of the family, you moron." Then, she retreated into the house with a roll of the eyes.

Rory nodded to where Amy had gone to, "Come on." He said, before following his wife inside of the house.

The Doctor looked straight ahead of him, lost in his thoughts. River pulled at his hand, making him lose his line of thoughts. He looked at River to see a smile adorning her face. He stopped at her level and gazed into her eyes, feeling his own beginning to water. 

River’s smiled grew and she brought her hand to his cheek, removing the tears that had fallen there. He wasn’t even aware of it and was surprised to see her fingers wet with his tears.

His emotions reflected into River’s eyes as he saw the unshed tears at the corner her eyes. He saw River’s smile growing even more than he thought possible. "Happy tears?" She murmured questioningly.

Slowly, the Doctor nodded, "Happy tears." He moved his hands to her shoulders before pulling her to him. He hugged her tightly, knowing she was his rock and that he could let his emotions flow freely in front of her. 

River stroked his back and pulled away after a moment. She took his hand and closed the door behind them. Then, she lead the Doctor inside of the house, where she knew her parents were.

In closing this door, a part of her has closed forever. The broken River was but a distant memory to her, a word on a sheet written as a closure. In closing this door, River knew a new page was turning. She knew new adventures were ahead of her. Her future was still a blurred picture for the moment, but she wasn’t afraid.

She wasn’t afraid because she knew she wasn’t alone.

Because she had her father, she had her mother.

And she had her husband.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m eager to hear your thoughts on this fic!  
> Also, I simply had to say that this fic is supposed to be a transitionary one, a way to close this ‘part’ of the series and introduce the following one. It’s why it might appear a bit plotless and a bit too much explanatory. (well, that’s my impression TBH)  
> I’m still far from finished with this series and to give you a little hint of what’s coming next I’m gonna give you three words: Dream. Knot. Frisson.  
> (forget what you know about those words because we’re searching deep here, their definition is really what make the word.)  
> And with that, I’ll fly away to revise my exams :)


End file.
